TAMPA, Fla. (May 10, 2010) – Launching the celebration to honor 50 years of the Sunshine State’s sporting legends, FX Marketing Group has reached an agreement with the Florida Sports Hall of Fame to ensure the tribute to athletic excellence stands for future generations.

With a ribbon-cutting, grand-opening ceremony at its new home at Polk County’s Lake Myrtle Sports Complex set for June 22, a new era for the Florida Sports Hall of Fame begins as the Tampa-based firm takes responsibility for its media, licensing and sponsorship activities.

As a letterman at Florida State University and former National Football League wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Green Bay Packers, FX Marketing’s senior partner, Barry Smith, holds an appreciation and reverence for the Florida Sports Hall of Fame’s inductees, nearly 200 of them from all regions and facets of the sporting community.

“These folks are legends of Florida’s sporting history, and their name and accomplishments deserve to be on display for everyone to see,” Smith said. “Their stories need to be told. The new building will be a terrific base, but we intend to take them to the public with a dynamic online presence and increased community-outreach events.”

As an official partner and sponsor, FX Marketing also will be coordinating the effort increase awareness in the Florida Sports Hall of Fame and develop creative and exciting corporate membership opportunities that support the Hall of Fame and its social outreach mission of fighting childhood obesity through promotion of organized youth sports, as well as promoting fitness for all Floridians.

Since 1996, FX Marketing has built itself into a national leader in the sports marketing and publishing, as well as client and event management. The firm’s stellar reputation recently earned endorsements from Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and the non-profit Florida Sports Foundation, which works with state leaders and sports–industry executives as the state’s official sports promotion and development group.

FX produces first-class annual publications for some of American largest governing bodies and management groups in American sporting industry, including Pro Football Hall of Fame, the NFL Alumni Association, ESPN, the PGA and Senior PGA tours, the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society, Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves, and, most recently, the NASCAR Hall of Fame in celebration of its inaugural class of inductees.

In the initial phase of the partnership, FX Marketing is in the early planning stages for a commemorative-edition of a Legends book, which will chronicle the golden anniversary celebration of the Florida Sports Hall of Fame and its rich history in time for the holiday season. The publication will include vignettes of all of the inductees, who include baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton, Miami Dolphins legend Dan Marino, beloved PGA golf legend Arnold Palmer and NBA Hall of Famer Rick Barry. Of course, there are plenty of Gators, Seminoles and Hurricanes among the inductees, too.

The keepsake is scheduled to be available in November at major retailers and bookstores across the state, including Walmart, Target and Barnes & Noble, to name only a few, in addition at select sporting retailers. The book also will be available at the Florida Sports Hall of Fame year round and on the new official Web site, which will be announced soon.

ABOUT THE FLORIDA SPORTS HALL OF FAME
The Florida Sports Writers Association and the Florida Sportscaster Association founded the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 1961 to honor and recognize Florida’s greatest sports figures. Inductees are chosen by the Florida Sports Writers Association from a list of nominees submitted to the Florida Sports Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors. To be eligible for induction, nominees must:

• Be a native Floridian, and/or
• Have attended a Florida school and/or been a resident of Florida during a major portion of their sporting career, and/or
• Have been otherwise been identified with Florida in a sports capacity in a manner which has brought recognition and acclaim to the state.

To be eligible for selection, individuals must have had a sports career that spanned a minimum of 15 years or have been retired from that endeavor for at least a year.